Learn what the conditions of approved, violated, and denied appeals for Financial Aid Standards of Academic Progress are and how to regain federal student aid eligibility for satisfactory academic progress. 

Approved Appeal

If your appeal is approved, you will be placed on “Probation” for your current or next semester of attendance and will be notified of how many credit hours you will need to complete in order to regain satisfactory academic progress and how many terms are allotted to complete graduation requirements (in the case of a maximum timeframe appeal). You would be placed on an academic plan that must be followed in order to continue enrollment. The plan may include requirements for academic performance and/or for meetings with an academic advisor or Central Piedmont counselor. If you meet the academic plan requirements, you will continue to be on probation for the next semester. Continued eligibility for financial aid is contingent on meeting the requirements of each semester’s academic plan. Failure to meet the requirements of the academic plan will result in termination of financial aid in the next semester of attendance. Your academic progress status does not return to satisfactory until you earn a cumulative 2.0 GPA and a cumulative 67% progress rate and do not exceed the maximum timeframe for program completion.

You may not withdraw, fail, or receive incompletes while on a probation. To successfully complete these credit hours, you must earn a 2.0 GPA each term and earn passing credits in 100% of the attempted classes each term until you regain satisfactory academic progress or graduate. If you fail to meet these requirements, your financial aid will be terminated.

A second appeal may be considered, but you will not be allowed to submit it for the same issue that led to the first appeal, such as the same instance of the same medical condition. You must have very unusual circumstances to warrant a second appeal.

Violated Appeal

If you do not meet the conditions of an approved appeal at the end of the probationary term(s), you will no longer be eligible for financial aid and will have one of the following statuses:

• UBT - Violated Appeal – Both (not meeting the 2.0 GPA and the 100% completion rate requirement)
• UGT - Violated Appeal – GPA (not meeting the 2.0 GPA requirement)
• UCT - Violated Appeal – Pass Rate (not meeting the 100% Pass Rate requirement)

Denied Appeal

If your appeal is denied, or if you do not meet the conditions of an approved appeal, you will be asked to attend at your own expense to satisfy the deficiency either in the hours (Pass Rate), GPA, or both. You cannot make up a deficiency if your appeal was due to exceeding the maximum timeframe to earn a degree.

Regaining Federal Student Aid Eligibility for Satisfactory Academic Progress

If you continue to attend each enrollment period without federal financial aid, you may regain eligibility for financial aid by earning a cumulative GPA of 2.0 and a cumulative completion rate of 67%. You would need to take courses at your own expense until satisfactory academic progress guidelines are met. Satisfactory academic progress is automatically reviewed at the end of each semester.

Warning status or suspension status due to failure to make satisfactory academic progress can be changed only by successfully completing classes — you may not improve your status by simply "sitting out" a semester. Once you meet both satisfactory academic progress requirements — a cumulative GPA of 2.0 and a cumulative completion rate of 67% — your status will change, and you will be considered in good standing for financial aid. 

Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress Success Plan

If you are placed on suspension and successfully appeal the decision, but your academic situation is such that it would be mathematically impossible for you to regain satisfactory academic progress eligibility during the next semester as required by federal satisfactory academic progress guidelines, the Financial Aid office may, at its sole discretion, place you on a financial aid academic plan. This plan will outline steps of progress that, if you follow them each semester, will lead to your regaining satisfactory academic progress eligibility at a specific time in the future. The academic plan will be used to evaluate your satisfactory academic progress until it expires.

Financial Aid will develop a plan for you based on your individual circumstances. We may request that you provide an academic/graduation plan signed by your academic advisor in addition to an appeal form. The plan may also include requirements for academic performance for one to four semesters and/or for meetings with an academic advisor or Central Piedmont counselor. If you meet these requirements, you will continue to be on probation for the next semester. Continued eligibility for financial aid is contingent on your meeting the requirements of each semester’s academic plan. If you do not meet these progressive steps each semester, you would immediately be placed on financial aid termination. You could then only reestablish your eligibility (and return your progress status to satisfactory) once you earn a cumulative 2.0 GPA and a cumulative 67% progress rate and do not exceed the maximum timeframe for program completion.